Faroe Islands, Gibraltar and San Marino move closer to qualification for Euro 2020 as UEFA approve new Nations League tournament to replace friendlies

Football minnows Faroe Islands, Gibraltar and San Marino could feature at Euro 2020 after UEFA approved the new Nations League tournament which will replace most international friendlies from 2018 and give smaller nations a chance of qualifying.

The new tournament, which will feature promotion and relegation and will allow an extra chance to qualify for European Championships, received unanimous support from UEFA's 54 member associations.

All 54 teams would still play in traditional Euro 2020 qualifying groups, which would be played March-November 2019.

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The Euro 2020 play-offs would then be
scheduled in March 2020. That line up would be decided by Nations League
results of teams which did not qualify directly in the top-two
qualifying group positions.

UEFA
president Michel Platini confirmed that each of the four divisions,
including the lowest-ranked, should send one team to Euro 2020. That
would offer teams such as the Faroe Islands, Gibraltar or San Marino a
chance to debut at a major event.

'We accept and respect that all UEFA
member associations have agreed to create a new competition,' said
Wolfgang Niersbach, chairman of UEFA's national teams competition
committee.

'This is a big step for national teams in Europe and we hope that fans will support the new format.'

Chance to qualify: Smaller nations, such as San Marino, have more of a chance to qualify for Euro 2020

UEFA said the key driver behind the Nations League is 'sporting integrity', saying there is an increasing feeling in the game that international friendlies do not provide adequate competition.

The governing body also believes the new tournament will help improve the quality and standing of international football, as it will allow all nations to play competitively at their level.

UEFA explained in a statement: 'The Nations League and the Euro qualifiers will be linked, with the new competition allowing an extra chance to qualify for Euro final tournaments.

'The competition and proposed amended qualifying formats for the European qualifiers, starting with Euro 2020, came after a thorough consultation process with UEFA's member associations, which began in 2011.'

Chance on to play on the bigger stage: Both Faroe Islands and Gibraltar would have the chance to qualify for Euro 2020

The exact format of the Nations League has yet to be finalised and will be the subject of further discussions between the associations, but the concept is for the 54 national teams to be divided into four large divisions according to coefficient rankings.

The statement continued: 'Prior to Euro 2020, each division will be sub-divided into four pools of three or four teams, so each team plays four to six matches between September and November 2018.

'The final four competition, involving the four pool group-winners of group A, will start in 2019, whereas play-offs for the Euros will then take place in March 2020.

'National teams will thus either be competing to become Nations League champions, or be fighting for promotion and to avoid relegation in their groups, as well as to qualify for Euro play-offs.'

HOW THE NATIONS LEAGUE WILL WORK

There will be four divisions, each containing 12-14 teams based on UEFA's coefficients. England and other top European sides will be in Division A.

Each division will have four mini-leagues - so England would play three or four other Division A teams on a home-and-away basis between September and November 2018.

The winners of each mini-league go into their division's semi-finals and then final at a neutral venue in June 2019. Each division winner will qualify for Euro 2020 meaning one of the smaller nations in Division D will be guaranteed a place at the Euros.

The remaining 20 qualification places for Euro 2020 will be decided via the usual qualifying groups in matches played from 2019, possibly going on as late as March 2020.

Four of Europe's 13 qualifying places for the 2022 World Cup may also be decided via the top two divisions of the Nations League.

TV income is likely to organised in a similar way to the Champions League, with each country being awarded half the value of its Nations League TV rights deal, and the rest shared out across the 54 nations via participation money and match bonuses.